


Space Oddity

by dragonpotter



Category: Be More Chill - Iconis/Tracz
Genre: Alien!Jeremy Heere, Alternate Universe - Aliens, Alternate Universe - Science Fiction, Angst, Autistic Jeremy Heere, Bilingual Characters, Bisexual Jeremy Heere, Bob Marley references, Crush at First Sight, Filipino Michael Mell, Gay Michael Mell, Jeremy Heere Needs a Hug, M/M, Mars, Oblivious Jeremy Heere, Outer Space, Pining, Protective Michael Mell, References to David Bowie, The SQUIP sucks, alien cluelessness a metaphor for my autism? yeah maybe, anyway, i realized that as i was editing i was like "whoops i'm projecting a little", language barriers, some cussing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-08
Updated: 2021-02-17
Packaged: 2021-03-16 05:21:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,759
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29077032
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dragonpotter/pseuds/dragonpotter
Summary: One clear night, a star fell from the sky. And with it came a scared boy who knew nothing of Earth.Aka: au where Jeremy is an alien and Michael wants to help him
Relationships: Jeremy Heere/Michael Mell
Kudos: 9





	1. Space Oddity

**Author's Note:**

> I love David Bowie, I love sci-fi, I love BMC. This just came to me and it made sense and now Heere it is.

_The stars look very different today_

_For here am I sitting in my tin can_

_Far above the world_

* * *

The ship came down faster than he expected. When he tried to turn the monitor back on, he was met with nothing. In that moment, it began to occur to the lonely boy that something had gone horribly wrong.

* * *

Michael Mell hadn’t expected such a big discovery out of one late night drive. He’d been stargazing from his window when he decided that fuck it, may as well go outside and enjoy the weather, too. He promised his mothers he’d be home by midnight, hopped into his PT Cruiser, and drove to the nearest park.

As he drove, Michael rolled down his window to take in the cool March air. An especially clear night, it seemed that it would be the perfect night for a whole lot of nothing. _Which would be perfect,_ Michael thought, _why not have some time to myself?_

He parked, and as he did, a shooting star passed overhead.

Yeah. It was gonna be a nice night.

Michael stepped out of his car and leaned against the door. The cool weather set around him, truly providing the mood for a mystical night like a meteor shower. Then Michael glanced slightly to his right to see something...different.

He wasn’t sure if he was hallucinating, but Michael thought he saw the silhouette of another boy in the distance. The figure fidgeted slightly, then began pacing back and forth. 

Ok. Michael hated seeing this kid seem to be in distress. He trudged to where the other boy was. The boy was audible now, muttering something that Michael couldn’t understand. Michael looked at him.

“Hey, man!” Michael called out. “Are you okay? Need any help?”

The figure looked at Michael, and he saw it was indeed just another teenage boy.

The first thing Michael noticed is that the other boy was _almost_ human, but something --he couldn’t quite figure out what--was off.

The second thing he noticed was how pretty this boy was. Like, _otherwordly_ levels of pretty.

The third thing he noticed was the look of panic that spread across this pretty boy’s face as he realized that Michael had been talking to him.

Silently, he held what appeared to be a watch of some sort to Michael’s face.

“Talk?”

Michael froze. “I’m sorry?”

“Talk to computer please?” He pressed a button on the side of the watch and held it to Michael’s face again.

“I just wanted to know if you needed help-” Michael started, but before he could finish, he felt a sudden searing shock in his brain, and it hurt like a _bitch._

“OW! _Fuck!_ ”

He probably could have said more, but the boy suddenly interjected in a shaky voice, “Where...where am I?”

“New...Jersey?” Michael replied.

“Wh-where?”

“Y’know, New Jersey. The state everybody makes fun of. I’ve heard a few of my neighbors jokingly call it ‘the crappiest place on Earth.’ At least, I think they’re joking…”

The boy continued to stare blankly at Michael.

“I...still don’t know. What planet is this?”

Ok, that was...odd, to say the least.

“Earth?” Michael replied slowly.

And that’s when a look of panicked horror crossed the mysterious boy’s face.

“Oh...no. Oh no. That’s...he’s gonna...I can’t be here. I- I-” he muttered, followed by a lot more, which Michael couldn’t understand a word of. It didn’t even sound like English. It didn’t even sound like any language Michel had ever heard of. Even more odd.

Feeling slightly panicked himself, Michael quickly said, “H-hey, you ok, man? I’m sure I can help you.” 

The boy glanced at Michael.

“I can try to help.” Michael said again. “What’s your name?”

Yet another look of panic. “N-name? None.”

“What do you mean, _none?_ ”

“I don’t...have name?” the boy stammered.

“You...don’t have a name?”

The boy just shook his head. “No...I don’t need one in space.”

Very odd statement. But whatever. This boy was clearly traumatized about something, maybe he just couldn’t think straight? _(God, I don’t think I can think straight, either_ , Michael thought, before realizing that must have been horrible.)

“Oh, uh,” Michael stuttered. “I uh...ok. I do need to...to call you something though. To avoid confusion? Uh...how about…” he thought for a moment. “How about Jeremy?”

It was the first name that came to mind.

The pretty boy didn’t seem to care. He only nodded and repeated, “Jeremy.” After a silent moment, he smiled (kinda) and exclaimed, “I’m Jeremy!!”

“Ok.” Michael sighed. “So, Jeremy. Where are you looking for?”

“Mars.” the newly christened Jeremy simply replied. “I’m looking for Mars. Do you know?”

Michael was taken aback. Not the answer he expected. Otherworldly began to seem more like the correct word to describe Jeremy.

“Y-yeah! I know of Mars.”

“How close is it? I need to be on Mars.”

_Oh boy, this boy is being serious, isn’t he?_

“118 million miles away.” Michael said. Jeremy stared blankly. “Shit, you probably don’t use that system, do you?” Michael said. “Well, uh...it’s far.”

“Oh no.” Jeremy said. “Oh no.”

Ok, maybe Michael wasn’t jumping to conclusions. Maybe this boy was legitimately from Mars.

“I need to get home. I need to be on Mars!” Jeremy exclaimed.

That’s when Michael began to formulate a plan.

He didn’t predict just how awry it may be, or what was about to come out of one little offer.

“Would...you like to come stay with me for a bit? You could live with me and my moms while we discuss where you’re from and how to get you back.”

Jeremy eyed Michael with a look that was half wonder, half confusion.

“You’d do that?? Thank you...uh…”

He trailed off. He was clearly trying to think of a way to ask, so the boy in the hoodie simply stated, “My name’s Michael.”

“Michael!” Jeremy repeated. “Human Michael, thank you!”

* * *

Michael did not think of a way to explain the appearance of the mysterious boy (apparently an actual Martian) immediately. Instead, he figured, why not kill two birds with one stone. Fuck around to buy time and give Jeremy a general idea of what this little corner of Earth was like. 

Sure.

That’ll work.

He stopped at 7-11 to buy a slushee (Jeremy declined to get anything. Poor boy still seemed confused.)

Actually arriving home still proved to be a rather challenging task.

Trying to unlock the door as quietly as possible, Michael ushered in Jeremy. He silently pointed out the stairs when he heard one of his moms say, “And just _where_ have you been, Micah?”

“7-11. I got held up.”

“Right.” she said. “And what’s that you’ve got there?”

_Shit._

“...a slushee.”

His moms sighed. “No, the other thing, dear.”

_SHIT._

“Oh...this is Jeremy. He’s uh...a friend from school. His dad’s out of town as I found out tonight so uh...I offered for him to stay here.”

Jeremy looked at the Mells, clearly trying to think of something to say.

“We...have slushee.” he finally stammered.

Michael suddenly realized there was yet another reason why this boy was so enamouring to him.

“I have to gay...go. We have to go, good night.”

Michael’s moms tried and failed to stifle a laugh, then said, “He can stay. But we’re going to continue this conversation tomorrow. Good night, Michael and…”

Silence. Jeremy stood in place, staring blankly at the Mells.

“Jeremy.” Michael finally filled in.

“Alright. Good night, Michael and Jeremy.”

Michael pulled Jeremy upstairs faster than either of them knew they could go.

* * *

Michael didn’t know it at the time, but that night set up the oddest yet greatest months he’d know. As Jeremy paced around the room, Michael admired him standing in the moonlight, his last thought being just how wonderful this boy seemed to be.


	2. Changes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Michael shows Jeremy more of what it means to live on Earth, but Jeremy realizes he has a LOT of adjusting to do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok so moving past the prologue, it's finally time for the plot to really get moving! I love these boys with my whole heart and what's better than fluff? Fluff AND pining. It's all about the fluff and pining.
> 
> Also, I constructed the basics of a Martian language for some spicy language barriers (and bc I seriously doubt an alien race would be native English speakers. I love sci-fi, but that trope bugs me)
> 
> A pronunciation guide with meanings will be provided in the end notes.
> 
> And now, the beginning of the chapter.

It was odd. The whole thing was just...odd. That’s the best way Michael could describe it. One day, Michael was a weird, friendless stoner and the next day he was waking up to see what was arguably his only friend, who happened to be an alien, staring at him in worry.

* * *

_Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes_

_Turn and face the strange_

_Ch-ch-changes_

_Don't want to be a richer man_

_Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes_

_Turn and face the strange_

_Ch-ch-changes_

_There's gonna have to be a different man_

* * *

When Michael opened his eyes, the first thing he noticed was the blue blur above him. When his eyes readjusted to the light, he saw Jeremy’s face hovering barely four inches above his own. Michael was tired. And between having to reprocess what had happened the previous night and being stunned by how pretty Jeremy was, he had to think for a moment before he could say anything.

“Good morning, Jeremy.”

“Where did you go?!” Jeremy exclaimed.

Michael blinked, still extremely tired. “What..do you mean? I was here all night.”

“You closed your eyes and then quit talking!”

_Huh? Oh._

“I was just sleeping.”

Jeremy stared blankly.

 _Alright, this may be difficult._ “You know...sleeping. Getting some rest. Recharging.”

Jeremy still stared in confusion. Then he said, “I don’t do that.”

“You don’t sleep?”

Jeremy shook his head. Man, this boy really was alien. In so many ways, really. Michael sat up in bed and tried to think of what to say next.

“Well, uh...humans do need sleep. Every night after it gets dark, we lie down and close our eyes. Then our minds sort of drift off while we get rested so we can have energy in the day.” Michael looked at Jeremy, who still seemed confused, but was clearly hanging on to every word. God, the little “I’m listening and trying to keep up” smile he had was so cute. Hell, this was the first time Michael had seen him smile. That made it all the more adorable. ( _Focus, Michael, dammit!_ he thought to himself.)

“Sleep…” Jeremy whispered. “But where do you go?” he asked again.

“Well, nowhere, really.” Michael replied. “Sometimes when we humans sleep we have dreams. They’re kinda like a little story that your mind generates while you’re sleeping.”

“Did you dream?”

“Last night? No.”

“So why couldn’t I talk to you during dark time?” Jeremy asked. “I...don’t like being alone.”

Maybe explaining sleep was going to take awhile. It didn’t really matter. Michael was willing to put all the time in the world to it if he had to. He laughed quietly and replied, “I can’t talk while I sleep, Jeremy. I’m essentially on ‘off’ mode.”

Jeremy once again stared in disbelief, then muttered something Michael couldn’t understand. It sounded like the language he had been muttering the previous night.

“Actually, here’s something pretty cool,” Michael continued. “Sometimes when people dream, they do talk in their sleep. They won’t usually respond to what people around them say, though.”

Jeremy’s eyes were bright now, filled with shock and curiosity. “I never knew!” he exclaimed. “Michael, humans are so cool!”

“We’re okay, I guess.” Michael chuckled. He turned to his bedside table and slipped on his glasses. “Now may I ask _you_ a question?” Jeremy nodded. “What does that watch do?”

“The what?”

“That watch you’re wearing. The one you had me speak into last night.”

Jeremy glanced at his left wrist and suddenly recalled the watch. “This?” he said. “It’s kind of computer. It translates languages into _jamraketh_ for me.” (Michael had no idea what that word was, but he had a pretty good guess.) “But it’s slow to type everything, especially when I don’t know the language, so I can have someone talk to it, and I’ll understand what that being says. Translator is connected to my brain”

“So do you understand all English? Or just when I speak?” Michael inquired.

“Just when you speak.” Jeremy repeated. “When other humans speak, I can only pick out a few words.”

“If you don’t mind me asking, how are you so good at speaking English then?”

“I’ve studied a bit on my own,” Jeremy replied. “It’s not good, but it’s enough.”

Cute Martian boy speaks only a little English, but is clearly trying his best? Yes, that’s what Michael was seeing. And he loved him more with every minute.

“Well, I think your English is wonderful.” Michael said.

Jeremy blushed (MIchael thought it was blushing, anyway. Jeremy’s face was flushed blue, and Michael didn’t want to make too many assumptions about Martian biology). “Thank you...Michael…”

Michael could tell his own face was flushing. Odd.

“Uh...no problem, Jeremy.”

They sat in silence, the both of them taking in the strange but friendly aura they had created, when Michael’s phone’s alarm clock suddenly went off. Jeremy jumped. “What is the buzzing?!”

“It’s just my phone. It’s my signal that I have to get ready for school.”

“You still go to school? How old are you?”

“Seventeen? What about you?”

“Well, years on Mars are twice as long as Earth...so...seventeen. I think.”

“So...why don’t you go to school?”

“I finished two years ago. Then I went on my own.”

That was in Martian years, Michael figured. “So what do you do now?”

Jeremy suddenly clammed up at the question. Staring down at his hands, he said in a barely audible whisper, “I work for him.”

 _Work for him._ An odd way to phrase it for sure. But maybe there was some Martian language convention that wasn’t quite translatable. “Work for who?” Michael asked.

Jeremy clammed up even further. _“Squip…”_ he stuttered, even quieter than before. He clutched his translator and began to fiddle with it, rotating it back and forth on his wrist.

Nervously, Michael asked, “What’s a Squip?”

Jeremy didn’t say anything for a few moments. Then he finally whispered, “Please no more questions.”

Alright, Michael had taken it too far. Whatever this Squip is, he shouldn’t talk about it. He’d make a note of that. _Now I need a way to change the subject…_

“So, uh...Jeremy. You want to come to school with me?”

“To...human school?”

To be honest, Michael didn’t expect Jeremy to instantly be all hunky dory for school, yet somehow he was still surprised by how nervous his reaction was.

“Y-yeah!” he finally replied. “My moms just may think it’s weird that you’re about my age yet never go to school. So maybe if you don’t mind, we could give it a shot?”

Jeremy smiled nervously. “Ok, Michael. I’ll try school.”

Alright. That would get his moms off their backs. Probably. Maybe. Hopefully.

_Yeah._

Michael was lowkey grateful he had slept in his clothes last night. That would save him from a rather _awkward_ conversation he didn’t want to have after the weird mood he’d already contributed to that morning. He slipped on his shoes and signaled Jeremy to follow him. Jeremy held to Michael’s sleeve and followed. 

They hopped into Michael’s car. “Is this safe?” Jeremy asked.

“Sure it is.” Michael said. “I’ve driven this thing hundreds of times.”

“What is it?”

“A car. It’s sort of like a rocket, but it stays on the ground.”

Jeremy’s eyes brightened. “Cool!!”

Again with the blue blushing. This boy was so damn adorable when he was happy. _Focus, Michael._ Michael told himself. _Just pick up your food from 7-11 and get to school_. He put the car in reverse, and with a breath, he began to drive. But no matter how much he told himself to focus, Michael couldn’t help but notice how excited Jeremy had become when the car moved. Or how cute his coos of wonder were.

* * *

After his daily trip to pick up his sushi and Slurpee, (with Jeremy still declining to eat anything. He really was a space oddity.) Michael finally pulled up to the school. _Here goes nothing._

“Alright, Jeremy. I’ll try to explain you being here. Just follow me around, okay?”

Jeremy nodded. “Okay, Michael.”

Michael and Jeremy walked into the principal’s office.

“Excuse me, Mr. Vizzini? I’d like to introduce my new neighbor, Jeremy. He just moved here from...uh...Iceland.”

* * *

After a very awkward conversation that consisted of how Michael knew Jeremy (“I met him as he was moving in this weekend.”) and why he hadn’t enrolled earlier (“Language barriers. His family was having trouble so offered to help when he came in today.”) and what exactly was his last name (“I...am here.” Jeremy had answered, which Michael quickly cut in with, “His last name is Heere!”), Jeremy had been given a schedule that, at the boys’ request, was identical to Michael’s.

“Well, Mr. Heere, you’re all set.” Mr. Vizzini said. “Welcome to Middleborough High School.”

Jeremy stared blankly, then finally replied, “Yes. Thanks.” and then once again held on to Michael’s sleeve as he led him out.

“Okay. We have that taken care of.” Michael said. “Now we just have to explain you being here to all our teachers. That can’t be hard, right?”

“Michael, everyone is staring at me.”

Right, Michael hadn’t quite prepared for his classmates noticing the odd, otherworldly boy. “Don’t worry about them.” he muttered. “Just greet them and look away.”

Jeremy smiled shyly and said more loudly then Michael had expected, " _PEKOI,_ HUMANS!!”

Fuck. That was most certainly Martian language.

 _“Jeremy!”_ Michael whispered. “ _They don’t understand that!”_

Hell, he didn’t either. Not that he was going to say it out loud and further embarrass Jeremy. He pulled Jeremy into their first class ( _How convenient that Ms. Murphy’s room is right here_ , he thought, relieved to be away from his peers for just a moment).

“Michael, what is this?” 

“Our first class. Biology.”

“Okay.”

Ms. Murphy walked into the room at that moment, which of course led to an awkward stammer from Michael about how he’s helping a new student who just moved to the States, don’t mind him if he doesn’t keep up, don’t mind me if I need to explain something to him, _just don’t mind us._

Michael already knew he was going to get tired of saying that to every teacher.

Ms. Murphy just smiled and nodded and welcomed Jeremy and all the polite things anybody would do, handed Jeremy a syllabus (which he looked at in confusement), and sat at her desk. More students started walking in, but upon seeing Jeremy, the chatter increased. Word about this odd boy who spoke an odd language and hung out with the weird stoner geek spread fast, apparently.

It was going to be a long day.

* * *

Long day was an understatement. Because of course it was. Having to explain Jeremy’s presence over and over and translate just about everything for him got repetitive quickly. Michael was ready to bullshit his way through the questions as much as he needed to, but how long would he have to take it?

Oh well. Anything for Jeremy. Michael was determined to console this boy to the best of his ability.

But really, Michael was glad to be back home and in his room. Away from the questions. Just him and his cute space oddity. 

But if there’s anything Michael had been thinking about all day, it was Jeremy’s native language. He’d slipped a few other times today, and every time, Michael would panic and try to cover for Jeremy, but then wonder just what he said. It was intriguing. There was a language that no humans knew, and probably will never know, and Michael’s just...listening to it. Wouldn’t it be cool if he could ask about a few words? Maybe. Would it be intrusive to ask, though?

_Well, there’s only one way to find out…_

“Hey, Jeremy?”

Jeremy seemed to have been deep in thought. It took him a moment to remember he was being talked to before he finally looked at Michael and replied, “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing is wrong,” Michael replied. “I just wanted to ask about something.”

“What is it?” Jeremy asked.

Michael took a breath. “What is that language you sometimes speak?”

Jeremy smiled. Smile Number 2. Just as adorable as the first. “It’s _jamraketh!_ ” he exclaimed. “My first language. It’s spoken by everyone on Mars!”

_Everyone on Mars. God, there really is a whole nother world out there._

“Could you...uh,” Michael stammered, “Could you maybe teach me a few words?”

“Yes! I’d love it!” Jeremy replied happily.

_Smile Number 3._

“What do you want to know?”

“Anything.”

“Alright,” Jeremy replied. “We say hello like this: _pekoi._ ”

“Peko...i?” Michael repeated, albeit pretty nervously.

By now, Jeremy was absolutely beaming. “Yes, that’s it!” he said. “And to say goodbye, we say _ogisagbe._ ”

Was there any chance Jeremy could actually be fucking with Michael right now? _No,_ Michael thought, _he seems too genuine to intentionally tell me the wrong thing._

“ _Ogisagbe._ ” Michael repeated.

“To say thank you, _sanda._ ”

“ _Sanda._ ”

Jeremy beamed. Somehow, hearing someone else speak Martian was overjoying to him. Although, Michael couldn’t blame him. If he were stuck somewhere new, he’d be relieved to hear anybody even try to attempt English or Tagalog.

“There’s...one more word I want to teach,” Jeremy said. “ _Hallo._ It means ‘farewell.’”

“That might be easy to mix up with English’s ‘hello.’” Michael laughed. “But what’s the difference between that and goodbye?”

“ _Ogisagbe_ is short term. _Hallo_ is when you think you’ll never see them again.”

_Oh boy. That hits hard somehow._

Michael didn’t say that, though. Instead, he said, “Thanks for teaching me, Jeremy.” He laughed to himself and then said, “Or rather... _sanda_?”

Jeremy smiled again. Michael had lost count by now. “You’re welcome!”

What a strange situation this was. Not that Michael could ever complain.

* * *

It was later that night when Jeremy’s alienness really began to shine through again. 

“Do you mind if I put on some music?” Michael asked.

Jeremy just looked at him, and was clearly trying to figure out what to say. After a silent moment, he finally replied, “Okay?”

Michael turned on his iPod and opened his Bob Marley playlist. The music began, and Jeremy suddenly froze. He turned to look at the iPod in awe. The lyrics began.

**_Don’t worry about a thing_ **

**_‘Cause every little thing’s gonna be alright_ **

**_Singin’ don’t worry about a thing_ **

**_‘Cause every little thing’s gonna be alright_ **

Jeremy looked at Michael. “What is this?”

Michael tried to mask his own confusion. “Music?”

“Oh…” Jeremy whispered. “So _this_ is music…”

_So he didn’t know what he was agreeing to? He could have said so._

Jeremy didn’t notice Michael standing and wondering. Instead, he just stared at the iPod. “Music is so nice…” he sighed.

“And I have plenty more,” Michael said. “Bob Marley, Queen, David Bowie, The Beatles. If it’s old and cool, it’s probably somewhere in my collection.”

“I...don’t know most of those words.” Jeremy said. “But I really like music, Michael!”

He kept staring at the iPod and beaming at it until the song ended. “Wait, where did it go?” he exclaimed. The next song began.

**_We’re jammin’, I wanna jam it with you_ **

**_We’re jammin’, jammin’_ **

**_And I hope you like jammin’, too_ **

“Michael, that’s not the same music!” Jeremy cried.

“Nah, it’s a different song.”

“How many are there?”

“I don’t even know how extensive my music collection is, to be honest. Between my iPod, CD player, and Walkman, I’ve got to have about a hundred albums at the least.”

Jeremy gasped. “I want to hear them all!”

“Well, we have a lot of time for that.” Michael replied.

The songs continued for hours, until Ina and Mama finally came upstairs to check in on the two boys.

“Michael, Jeremy? Are you okay? You’ve been up here for hours.” Mama said. “And that playlist has been on loop the whole time.”

Jeremy didn’t respond. He was practically hovering over the iPod, which was now playing “Get Up, Stand Up.” Michael, who had been zoning out as he watched Jeremy get excited over every song, muttered something like, “We’re fine, Mama.”

“Alright.” she said. “And just so you know, boys, supper’s ready.”

Mama and Ina went back downstairs. Jeremy finally looked away from the iPod and at Michael. “What’s wrong?”

“They’re just letting us know it’s time to eat.”

“I’m not hungry.”

“Jeremy, you haven’t eaten once since I met you.”

“I don’t need to. I can live on a little food at a time. I’m not hungry.”

That was a huge wake up call to Michael. It didn’t matter how human this boy looks. Jeremy _wasn’t_ human. Just this morning, he didn’t know about sleep or music, and right now, he was going off about why he didn’t need food. Jeremy wasn’t human. Whatever Michael had been telling himself all this time, it surely wasn’t correct. Jeremy wasn’t human. He was an alien. A Martian. A space oddity.

Actually, he was a cute space oddity

_My cute space oddity._

“Well,” Michael finally said, “Would you at least come down and sit with us? No eating required if you don’t want to.”

Jeremy nodded. “Alright, Michael.”

* * *

The days went on. Many of them quite the same. Michael waking up to Jeremy hovering over him, Jeremy following him through school, the two of them listening to music for hours and hours. Sometimes Jeremy ate, but he usually tried to brush it off. He wasn’t hungry, he’d insist. Jeremy just wasn’t a big eater, so there’s no need to worry, Michael would always say as cover. Mama and Ina always requested that Jeremy still tried to eat something, though. So sometimes he would. Usually, though, he’d just sit next to Michael and observe and make sounds of excitement and awe.

And nights were quite the same, too. Michael would talk to Jeremy for as long as he could, before inevitably dozing off. He always made a point to say ‘good night’ before he did. He didn’t want Jeremy to get too lonely. He’d already made it clear: he hated being alone. Michael wanted to show Jeremy that even when he was asleep, he was there with him.

So Michael found it surprising when one night about two weeks after they met, Jeremy just wouldn’t respond. So he said good night and closed his eyes. Jeremy sat at the edge of the bed and squeezed Michael’s hand. 

_Oh God._ Michael thought. _I’m not dreaming this, right?_

He realized he wasn’t. Michael lay there in bed, trying not to panic. He decided he may as well accept it. Jeremy may have needed comfort. No other reason.

_Nope. No other reason at all that I am fine with this._

Michael squeezed back.

He didn’t sleep for what felt like hours. Michael turned his head to look at Jeremy. Jeremy didn’t move. But he was muttering something. In Martian, it sounded like.

Michael couldn’t stand to see him so anxious.

“Jeremy? I’m awake. I can talk. What’s wrong?”

Jeremy didn’t turn around. He just began to mutter louder. “Gotta get home. Can’t have him shock me. Gotta get home. Can’t have him shock me.” He said it over and over, as if he literally couldn’t concentrate on anything else.

“Who?”

“Gotta get home before he finds me.”

“Jeremy, who is it?”

“Squip. Gotta get home before he finds me.”

Michael squeezed Jeremy’s hand again. “Squip sounds like a fucking asshole.” he whispered. “I may not know anything about him, but I know I want him out of your life.”

“I miss home.” Jeremy whispered.

Michael wasn’t surprised. Of course Jeremy would want to go back to Mars. Earth wasn’t his home, and he was surely feeling out of place. Who wouldn’t want the same thing if they were in Jeremy’s shoes?

Michael thought for a moment. He wanted to help Jeremy, more than anything. So what he said next felt extremely natural at the moment.

“Jeremy, I’m going to help you get home. I promise.”

Jeremy quit muttering. He went silent. “Promise?”

“Yes.” Michael said. “I’m going to help you. I _want_ to help you. And I want to protect you from that Squip fucker. So I’ll help you get home.” Silence. “I can promise that. And I never break a promise.”

More silence.

Then Jeremy finally whispered one word.

“ _Sanda._ ”

Michael smiled. He could hope Jeremy could tell. “You’re welcome, Jeremy.”

Michael squeezed Jeremy’s hand one more time, then began to drift off to sleep. As he did, he simply promised himself one thing.

_Jeremy’s needs come first, no matter how you're feeling. Don't begin to crush, Michael._

It was the first time Michael had ever broken a promise.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> jamraketh (yahm-rahk-eth) - Martian language  
> pekoi (peh-ko-ih) - hello  
> ogisagbe (oh-gee-sag-beh) - goodbye  
> sanda (san-da) - thank you  
> hallo (hah-low) - farewell


End file.
